Technocrats dominated policymaking across Latin America in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Now, in much of the region, including its largest democracies, voters and politicians on both the left and the right have challenged the role of technocrats in democratic governments. What explains technocrats’ declining legitimacy in many Latin American democracies? How have technocrats changed their approach to governance in the face of these challenges?

Miguel Angel Centeno
Professor of Sociology and Vice-Dean of the Scholl of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University

Eduardo Dargent
Associate Professor, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Peru

Matthew Rhodes-Purdy
Assistant Professor, Clemson University; Katherine Bersch, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Davidson College

Moderator: Steven Levitsky
Director, David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies; Professor of Government, Harvard University